Congratulations!Today is your day.You're off to Great Places!You're off and away!

You have brains in your head.You have feet in your shoesYou can steer yourselfany direction you choose.You're on your own. And you know what you know.And YOU are the guy who'll decide where to go.

You'll look up and down streets. Look 'em over with care.About some you will say, "I don't choose to go there."With your head full of brains and your shoes full of feet,you're too smart to go down any not-so-good street.

And you may not find anyyou'll want to go down.In that case, of course, you'll head straight out of town.

It's opener therein the wide open air.

Out there things can happenand frequently doto people as brainyand footsy as you.

You'll be on your way up!You'll be seeing great sights!You'll join the high flierswho soar to high heights.

You won't lag behind, because you'll have the speed.You'll pass the whole gang and you'll soon take the lead.Wherever you fly, you'll be the best of the best.Wherever you go, you will top all the rest.

You can get all hung upin a prickle-ly perch.And your gang will fly on.You'll be left in a Lurch.

You'll come down from the Lurchwith an unpleasant bump.And the chances are, then,that you'll be in a Slump.

And when you're in a Slump,you're not in for much fun.Un-slumping yourself is not easily done.

You will come to a place where the streets are not marked.Some windows are lighted. But mostly they're darked.A place you could sprain both you elbow and chin!Do you dare to stay out? Do you dare to go in?How much can you lose? How much can you win?

And IF you go in, should you turn left or right...or right-and-three-quarters? Or, maybe, not quite?Or go around back and sneak in from behind?Simple it's not, I'm afraid you will find,for a mind-maker-upper to make up his mind.

You can get so confusedthat you'll start in to racedown long wiggled roads at a break-necking paceand grind on for miles across weirdish wild space,headed, I fear, toward a most useless place.The Waiting Place...

...for people just waiting.Waiting for a train to goor a bus to come, or a plane to goor the mail to come, or the rain to goor the phone to ring, or the snow to snowor waiting around for a Yes or a Noor waiting for their hair to grow.Everyone is just waiting.

Waiting for the fish to biteor waiting for wind to fly a kiteor waiting around for Friday nightor waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jakeor a pot to boil, or a Better Breakor a sting of pearls, or a pair of pantsor a wig with curls, or Another Chance.Everyone is just waiting.

With banner flip-flapping,once more you'll ride high!Ready for anything under the sky.Ready because you're that kind of a guy!

Oh, the places you'll go! There is fun to be done!There are points to be scored. there are games to be won.And the magical things you can do with that ballwill make you the winning-est winner of all.Fame! You'll be famous as famous can be,with the whole wide world watching you win on TV.

Except when they don't.Because, sometimes, they won't.

I'm afraid that some timesyou'll play lonely games too.Games you can't win'cause you'll play against you.

All Alone!Whether you like it or not,Alone will be somethingyou'll be quite a lot.

And when you're alone, there's a very good chanceyou'll meet things that scare you right out of your pants.There are some, down the road between hither and yon,that can scare you so much you won't want to go on.

But on you will gothough the weather be foulOn you will gothough your enemies prowlOn you will gothough the Hakken-Kraks howlOnward up manya frightening creek, though your arms may get soreand your sneakers may leak.

On and on you will hikeand I know you'll hike farand face up to your problemswhatever they are.

You'll get mixed up, of course, as you already know.You'll get mixed upwith many strange birds as you go.So be sure when you step.Step with care and great tactand remember that Life'sa Great Balancing Act.Just never forget to be dexterous and deft.And never mix up your right foot with your left.

And will you succeed?Yes! You will, indeed!(98 and 3 / 4 percent guaranteed.)

KID, YOU'LL MOVE MOUNTAINS!

So...be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Brayor Mordecai Ali Van Allen O'Shea,you're off to Great Places!Today is your day!Your mountain is waiting.So...get on your way!

If you have asked me of the origination of unease, then I shall explain it to you in accordance with my understanding: Whatever various forms of unease there are in the world, They originate founded in encumbering accumulation. (Pārāyanavagga)

Exalted in mind, just open and clearly aware, the recluse trained in the ways of the sages:One who is such, calmed and ever mindful, He has no sorrows! -- Udana IV, 7

Yes, that's much better than anything by Hesse. One would of course need a commentary to appreciate it in all its depth.

You're on your own. And you know what you know.And YOU are the guy who'll decide where to go.

You'll look up and down streets. Look 'em over with care.About some you will say, "I don't choose to go there."With your head full of brains and your shoes full of feet,you're too smart to go down any not-so-good street.

Very good. It appears to be a modern restatement of the Sabbāsava Sutta's teaching on āsavas to be abandoned by avoiding.

"What taints, bhikkhus, should be abandoned by avoiding? Here a bhikkhu, reflecting wisely, avoids a wild elephant, a wild horse, a wild bull, a wild dog, a snake, a stump, a bramble patch, a chasm, a cliff, a cesspit, a sewer. Reflecting wisely, he avoids sitting on unsuitable seats, wandering to unsuitable resorts and associating with bad friends, since if he were to do so wise companions in the holy life might suspect him of evil conduct. While taints, vexation, and fever might arise in one who does not avoid these things, there are no taints, vexation, and fever in one who avoids them. These are called the taints that should be abandoned by avoiding."

Best wishes,Dhammanando Bhikkhu

...and this thought arose in the mind of the Blessed One:“Who lives without reverence lives miserably.”— Uruvela Sutta, A.ii.20

It were endless to dispute upon everything that is disputable.— William Penn Some Fruits of Solitude,

I've been told there's an apocryphal "missing" verse edited from the published version:

This place is Hades, where bad people go,Hellfire and brimstone forever flow.Devils dance and devils shoutMy how they jump about.They have a long rusty forkThey roast you on the end like pork.They stick you in the earthey stick you in the rearthey stick you in the eyeThey stick you til you cryIt does no good to call for Mama,She ran off with the fifth Dalai Lama.Does Hell last forever? That's what they say.Let's hope this isn't Judgment Day.

Or so I've heard.

Author of Redneck Buddhism: or Will You Reincarnate as Your Own Cousin?

You nearly had me going until you had the bit about the fifth Dalai Lama.

Nice apocryphal verse though... in keeping with the theme of the original text.

Metta,Retro.

If you have asked me of the origination of unease, then I shall explain it to you in accordance with my understanding: Whatever various forms of unease there are in the world, They originate founded in encumbering accumulation. (Pārāyanavagga)

Exalted in mind, just open and clearly aware, the recluse trained in the ways of the sages:One who is such, calmed and ever mindful, He has no sorrows! -- Udana IV, 7

Dhammanando wrote:One would of course need a commentary to appreciate it in all its depth.

Of course, of course.

Metta,Retro.

If you have asked me of the origination of unease, then I shall explain it to you in accordance with my understanding: Whatever various forms of unease there are in the world, They originate founded in encumbering accumulation. (Pārāyanavagga)

Exalted in mind, just open and clearly aware, the recluse trained in the ways of the sages:One who is such, calmed and ever mindful, He has no sorrows! -- Udana IV, 7

That's actually an excerpt from some Buddhist Nursery Rhymes I wrote on a thread on e-Sangha. Here are some more:

"Don't get mad," the Buddha said"It sets a fire inside your head.""I hate this! I'm mad at that!"I'll whip the dog and kick the cat!"Like taking poison, hoping someone else will die,Anger makes us weep and cry.It's never good, always ill,And through kamma we pay the bill.That dog, that cat, the hated OTHERWas, in bygone times, your mother.Above all else, be kindLet love, not anger, rule the mind.

Jack and JillWent up the HillTo listen to some Dhamma.Jill came backAs a boy named ZachAnd Jack came back as his mama.

There was an old manWho lived in a shoeHe studied Lord BuddhaConfucius and Lao Tsu.He saw it was fruitlessTo chase after richesHe learned how to liveLife free without glitches.Most people said "He's just an old fool,"But personally, I thought he was cool.That man was me, in a former existenceSo now today, I meditate with persistence.

It's raining, it's pouring --Isn't Samsara boring?Impermanent, inconstant and stressfulSeldom blissful, at peace or restful.So spend much time on the mat, dear friendAnd you'll reach Nibbanna in the end.May we find, as others foundThe perfect Mind like fire unbound.

I had too much coffee that day.

J/ Bb

Author of Redneck Buddhism: or Will You Reincarnate as Your Own Cousin?